Capital Highlights
Perry names special master to investigate Youth Commission
Ed Sterling Texas Press Association

A USTIN - Rather than place the troubled Texas Youth

Commission in conservatorship

at the urging of the lieutenant governor and a committee of lawmakers, Gov. Rick Perry appointed Jay Kimbrough as special master to get the agency back in line.

Kimbrough's job will be to investigate sexual abuse of detainees reported at facilities in Giddings, Brownwood and Pyote.

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, the state's ethics prosecutor, is conducting his own investigation into allegations that reports of sexual abuse in TYC facilities were altered by state officials.

A former assistant Texas attorney general, Kimbrough also is a former chief of staff for Perry and formerly served as the state's director of homeland security. AG abates opinion on documents

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott took action to help prevent identity theft on Feb. 21 by issuing an opinion saying that county clerks should remove Social Security numbers from copies of documents on file before releasing them to the public.

Abbott's opinion said failure to comply would result in criminal charges. So clerks found themselves in a tough spot when citizens showed up the next day to get courthouse records needed to conduct routine business.

County clerks across Texas had to slow down or shut down all or part of their public information operations, because so many types of documents contain Social Security numbers.

Complaints from far and wide flew in, prompting Abbott to abate his opinion for 60 days - supposedly enough time for counties to adjust to the practice of redacting Social Security numbers. House slows down Jessica's Law

The Texas House on Feb. 28 postponed further deliberation on House Bill 8, a "Jessica's Law" bill by Rep. Debbie Riddle, RHouston.

After salty debate mainly over the bill's death penalty component and costs of implementation, the House voted 131- 10 to wait until March 5 to continue consideration by the full House.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on Feb. 14 announced the filing of SB 5, the Senate version of Jessica's Law.

Differences between the two bills would have to be reconciled in a final version, but as presently written, the legislation would do the following:

tRequire mandatory 25 years to life sentences for a first-time violent sexual offense against a child under age 14;

t Require lifetime GPS monitoring for child sex offenders;

t Allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty for a second sexually violent offense against a child under age 14; and

t Double the statute of limitations on sexual crimes against children from 10 to 20 years.

Jessica's Law is named for 9- year-old Floridian Jessica Lunsford. In March 2005, the child was abducted from her Florida home, raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender.

Since then, more than two dozen states have enacted toughened sex offender laws.

Organic farming bills are filed

Rep. Doc Anderson, R-Waco, and Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, filed House and Senate versions of legislation to create an 11-member Texas Organic Agricultural Advisory Board.

The board would:

t meet at least once a year;

t assist the Texas Department of Agriculture in assessing the organic produce industry;

t find ways to promote and expand the industry;

t work on getting grants and gifts to nurture the industry;

t help to develop an organic agricultural products education and awareness campaign.

Agency would redraw districts

Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, filed SB 1068, legislation to create a Texas Congressional Redistricting Commission.

The highly politicized task of redrawing U.S. congressional district boundaries is normally done by the Texas Senate every 10 years.

Wentworth's bill would give the job to a nine-member, balanced, bipartisan commission of Texas residents.

Eight members (four from each major party) would elect a nonvoting member to preside.

The full report is available online at window.state.tx.us.

Ed Sterling is director of member services for the Texas Press Association in Austin.